


Fireplace

by Hisa_Ai



Series: 31 Days of Christmas [9]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: 31 Days of fic, Christmas, Christmas prompts, Day 9, Prompt Fic, Yule, fireplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-04 05:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1077376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisa_Ai/pseuds/Hisa_Ai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur has had to stay up late with paperwork and treaties, so Merlin has been taking to joining him to ease his loneliness. And then one night, Arthur decides the work is best done in front of a fireplace...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fireplace

* * *

 

As the newly crowned king of Camelot, Arthur, as it turned out, had quite a bit of paperwork to do, and not quite enough hours in the day to do it all. So he often found himself up late, scribbling away and signing important documents and whathaveyou with Merlin nearby, catching up on chores or pretending to be busy just to keep Arthur company.

One particularly chilly night, Arthur had decided that if he was going to work late into the night again, he was at least going to be  _warm_  while he did it, so he and Merlin made their way to a room with a fireplace in it. Merlin stoked the fire before settling in on a plush rug just in front of the fire with Arthur's boots to polish while Arthur plopped down in a chair with a treaty to read over.

They worked in silence for a while, Arthur's eyes trailing over the paper in a state of almost boredom, and Merlin polishing his boots, the sounds of paper crinkling and fabric scraping falling in rhythm with the crackling fire in a pleasant way that made Arthur's eyes droop slightly.

He shook himself out of his reprieve then, reminding himself that the treaty signing was supposed to take place come morning and he had to look it over to be sure everything was done correctly. Perhaps working in front of a toasty fireplace in a cozy chair wasn't the best idea in the world…

Water. A glass of water would help wake him up, maybe a snack, too, he decided. He lowered the paper from his face, eyes seeking out Merlin and wondering why he'd stopped polishing—even if he  _had_  finished, he usually pretended that he hadn't just to stick around for a while longer—until he saw why.

Arthur's boots were forgotten on the floor, the cloth Merlin had been using to polish them draped over them, and Merlin was lying on the rug, spread out as though he hadn't really meant to fall asleep but had anyway. His mouth was hanging open slightly, eyes closed peacefully, a serene look about him that made Arthur purse his lips in wonder. They had both been pulling late nights recently, Arthur because he had to, Merlin because he wanted to, and the loss of sleep was bound to catch up with them sooner or later. Arthur just wondered why it had to be  _sooner._

Forgetting about the treaty—Leon had looked it over before it found its way back to Arthur, anyway, and said everything looked to be in order. He was just double-checking to satiate his own curiosity and nerves—he watched Merlin for a moment. He looked… like he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while now. And he probably hadn't been just as warm as he was now in a while either.

Arthur smiled softly, remembering nights when he had camped out in front of that very fireplace as a child, reading books and terrorizing tutors and hiding from nursemaids and Morgana and his father. He had fallen asleep way too many times in front of it, only to wake up half-way frozen come morning—the fire  _did_  go out eventually, if there was no one there to stoke them. Merlin, though, for the moment, looked warm and at peace.

And Arthur would have given anything, just in that moment, for him to always look like that instead of worried, thoughtful, and stressed look he always seemed to be these days.

"Mmm, sorry, did I drift off?" Merlin mumbled suddenly, blinking himself awake and pulling his head off the rug. Arthur shrugged, turned his attention back to the treaty sheepishly, trying to pretend he hadn't just been watching him sleep.

"Just for a moment." Arthur said.

"Sorry, I'll… finish these." He moved to sit up and grab for the boots but Arthur stopped him.

"No, don't… don't bother."

"Why not?" Merlin asked curiously, voice still tired and weighed down by his brief encounter with sleep.

"Because… knowing your skills, that's as good as they're going to get," Arthur clucked his tongue, watching over the top of the treaty as Merlin sat on his knees, caught between the boots and Arthur's words.

"Right…" he nodded slowly, hands coming to rest on his hips. "Well, what else would you like me to do?" he asked.

Arthur shrugged again, pretended to think for a moment and then brought the treaty up to his eyes once more. "Go back to your nap, I suppose. I'll wake you when I'm done." He offered, keeping his eyes on the words in front of him as Merlin made a sound of surprise and suspicion. He felt Merlin's eyes on him, on the paper he was holding stubbornly in front of his face, his own probably conveying the same suspicion and curiosity as his voice.

"You're not serious…"

"I am, though," Arthur assured him.

"You're actually  _telling_ me to sleep on the job? Have you taken too many blows to the head recently?"

"Look," Arthur yanked the paper down to stare Merlin down instead, his gaze hopefully enough to pin him to the spot and get his message across. "We've been working late a lot recently, and it's either catch up on it now when you have the chance or wait for it to catch up on  _you_  when we're out in a battle or our time is more valuable than it is now. So.  _I_  am going to finish looking this over,  _you_  are going to sleep, and when I'm done we're  _both_  going to go to bed and  _you're_  going to stop arguing about it and do as your king tells you. Are we clear,  _Mer_ lin?" Arthur demanded.

He had to admit, he hated doing that, bringing up the 'I'm your king' thing instead of the more important 'I'm your friend', but sometimes—much too often as of late, actually—it was the only thing that got through to people like Merlin.

Merlin, however, just looked amused, a goofy grin on his face as he clearly saw through Arthur intentions.

His attention back on the paper, Arthur ignored Merlin's light chuckled response, "Whatever you say,  _sire_." But he was pleased when he looked back down moments later and Merlin was spread out on the rug, sleep having claimed him once more.

Rereading the treaty several times, Arthur stayed up just a bit longer, allowing Merlin his sleep in front of the glow of the fireplace.

And, if Merlin had asked come morning why he had let him sleep for so long, Arthur had decided that it was a very long and complicated treaty that required his attention for much longer than most. Though he would probably see through  _that_  as well...

 

 

 

 

* * *

 


End file.
